Union Defends Charter School

By

Lisa Fleisher

Oct. 9, 2012 10:39 p.m. ET

New York City teachers union officials on Tuesday defended a charter school founded by the labor union as the school undergoes a crucial review period that will determine whether the struggling institution stays open.

The UFT Charter School was founded in 2005, when former United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten looked to demonstrate amid a growing reform movement that a school could thrive when its educators worked under the existing teachers contract. The school, which has roughly 1,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, was said to be the first union-led charter school in the U.S. when it opened.

The Brooklyn school has faltered in many important measures, however. Students have performed inadequately on state tests, and several principals have come and gone. This year, the elementary and middle-school levels received their second D in three years on a city report card. They posted failing marks in how well students improved on state tests, which makes up the bulk of the overall grade.

UFT officials said the school is making strides. "After some years of struggling, we are seeing some important signs of progress," said Shelia Evans-Tranumn, the school director since 2010.

In an email, Ms. Evans-Tranumn said the number of elementary-grade students choosing to stay to attend middle school is increasing, the school was labeled "in good standing" with the New York State Education Department and is expanding after-hours programs.

It remains to be seen whether that will be enough to satisfy officials from the board of trustees of the State University of New York. SUNY and the New York State Board of Regents are the only bodies in New York that can approve charter schools, which receive an initial, five-year contract to operate. Once the schools open, their progress is monitored, and charters can be renewed for up to five years. SUNY has declined to renew charters at nine schools since 2003. The Regents have closed six schools, a spokesman said.

Staffers from SUNY's Charter School Institute are evaluating the UFT school in East New York this week as they review 16 schools up for renewal. A decision will likely be made by February, a SUNY spokesman said.

Current UFT President Michael Mulgrew was traveling and unavailable for comment.

James Merriman, former executive director of the Charter School Institute, said the bar should be set high for charter schools. Mr. Merriman is now CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, which advocates on behalf of charters.

"It didn't matter whether you were on an upward trajectory. It didn't matter that you had brought in a new principal and a new team," Mr. Merriman said. "Our view was you should have been doing that all along. And if in year seven, you don't have a…good set of scores, well, you haven't done what you said you'd do, and in charter land, that means closure."

In 2010, the UFT Charter School received a three-year renewal after posting "ambiguous or mixed" results.

A report delivered last month to the SUNY board of trustees shows the UFT charter is still lagging behind peers. It was the only one of 13 elementary or middle schools up for renewal that scored on par or below others schools in its district, according to the report, which was first described Tuesday on GothamSchools, a blog about city public schools.

The school is seen as part of Ms. Weingarten's legacy. Now the head of the American Federation of Teachers, Ms. Weingarten has been somewhat more willing than other labor leaders to work with charter-school proponents, although she remains a stalwart defender of collective bargaining.

"I have not been involved [in the school] in a couple of years," Ms. Weingarten said. "There's a really good team in place—including a great board and management team, engaged parents, fantastic teachers and hardworking students. And I'm rooting for them to succeed."

Corrections & Amplifications:

Shelia Evans-Tranumn has been the director of the UFT Charter School since 2010. An earlier version of this story misspelled her first name.

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